I'd take lump sum. A modest 7% return doubles your money in 12 years.
Another way of looking at it is $262 Million investment at 7% / year would yield roughly 18+ Million/year before capital gains. At 39.6% capital gains tax, that's still $11 Million a year without ever touching the $262 Million.
If you could get a better 10% return then that would grow to $26.2M/year or $15.7M/year - after tax - without ever touching the $262M.
Even if you spent every cent of that $15.7M/yr - after 25 years you'd still have $262M
It'd only take a six percent return to double it in 12 years.
I"d give 20 percent away to the charities of my choice, pay the obscene taxes and then work hard to keep the money from ruining my life and the lives of my relatives.
RTR,
Tim
